The Business of Strangers

Director/Writer:

Patrick Stettner

IFC Films; R; 83 minutes

Release:

12/01

Cast:

Stockard Channing, Julia Stiles, Frederick Weller

The Business of Strangers operates in the soul-sucking vacuum of the corporate world. It's a sexually charged tale staged in sterile airports and anonymous hotels. Workaholic Julie Styron (Stockard Channing) fires her spunky assistant Paula (Julia Stiles) in a nervous frenzy, fearing her own job loss. This doesn't come to pass, Paula's rehired, and over a few drinks they decide to exact revenge upon an oily headhunter (Frederick Weller).

The lead women evoke a range of emotional situations with gusto. The film itself isn't as provocative or as charged as it would like to be. The Business of Strangers doesn't back away from intriguing themes, it merely lacks direction to explore them with a depth Stiles and Channing are so obviously ready for.